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    Ensuring the Justice System Works for All Pennsylvanians

    Criminal Justice

    Governor Shapiro is making Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system more just and more fair and supporting those reentering our communities.

    Governor Shapiro is working to reform Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system.

    • Announced he would not sign any execution warrants during his term as Governor and called on the General Assembly to abolish the death penalty.

    • For the first time in Pennsylvania history, the Governor secured $22.5 million for indigent defense, ensuring public defenders have the resources they need to provide legal representation to every Pennsylvanian.

    • Opposed mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole for second degree murder.

    • Supported the federal proposal to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.

    Gov. Shapiro believes in second chances and extending opportunity for all Pennsylvanians.

    • Signed the bipartisan Comprehensive Probation Reform legislation to ensure every person on probation will receive a probation review after two or four years and that minor technical violations will no longer result in a return to prison. 

    • Signed the bipartisan amended Clean Slate legislation to ensure Pennsylvanians who receive a pardon will get their criminal records cleared automatically.

    • Awarded $14.5 million through the Department of Labor & Industry to support 10 re-entry programs across Pennsylvania. 

    • During the first three years of the Shapiro Administration, the Department of Corrections recorded the lowest three-year recidivism rates seen in the last 20 years.

    • Lt. Governor Austin Davis and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency awarded $1.34 million through the First Chance Trust Fund Program to implement scholarship programs that benefit at-risk students in communities with prominent incarceration and dropout rates.

    • Invested an unprecedented $20 million in Justice Reinvestment Initiative funding to county probation and parole departments to support Act 44 of 2023 reforms, prevent youth substance abuse, enhance county probation services, and improve security for nonprofits at risk of hate-motivated attacks.

    The Shapiro-Davis Administration streamlined the pardons process.

    • Secured state funding to support a new unit within the Department of Corrections to allow the department to address backlogs in the pardons process.

    • As chair of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, Lt. Governor Austin Davis spearheaded changes to the pardon application process, expanding eligibility for an expedited review for applicants with non-violent offenses, and launched an online pardons application.  

    • Granted 1,079 pardons in his first three years in office.